Previews

The Bourne Conspiracy

Spiffy:

All the larynx chopping you can handle; beautifully captured brawl ballets.

Iffy:

Targeting is a bit of a chore; driving sequences non-existent in preview version.

After the first couple of levels, The Bourne Conspiracy has proven itself to be a surprisingly cinematic brawling experience. Part of this is due to the superior camera work that suffuses every fisticuff-tastic encounter, but the bulk of what makes the combat in Bourne so intriguing is the raw impact contained within every swing. When Jason Bourne socks somebody in the gut it sounds like Rocky Balboa going to town on a frozen side of beef, which is great because the guy punches just about everything in sight... or kicks it in the groin or pulls its arm into a painful-looking elbow lock or jabs it in the larynx or...

Fight Club

In the latest preview build of The Bourne Conspiracy, only the first two levels are unlocked, but brevity doesn't hinder the experience. While the driving portions referenced in Gerald's hands-on preview were noticeably absent and the shooting was only so-so at best (targeting seems to be a bit of an issue), the knock-down, drag-out melee combat was intensely visceral.

Simple controls guide Jason Bourne's combat tactics, relying on the X, A and Y buttons for most of the action. Trading off between quick jab combos and heavy jaw-rocking elbow drops, you gradually build up adrenaline in a small meter on the lower-right of the screen. Once you've gathered enough adrenalin, you can press B to drop the hammer on the sorry thug you're pummeling in a remarkably accurate recreation of the ruthless kill sequences from the films.

If multiple opponents are present and you have a surplus of adrenaline in your gauge, Jason Bourne will knock the ever-living bejesus out of them nearly simultaneously. These brutal assaults play out in exceptionally executed in-game cut-scenes in which the camera cuts between the most interesting angles for each bone-crunching impact. It's truly a sight to behold, but it's even better when you're the one controlling the action because dishing out these kinds of beatings with such staggering efficiency makes you feel like a complete badass.

Pump Them Rounds

By comparison, the shooting seemed a bit anticlimactic. Targeting was tough as there wasn't much of an aim-assist and the hit detection seemed a bit off as well. Sometimes, after winging a dude in the shoulder, subsequent bullets didn't seem to do damage when the chump's little dance of pain was still busy running through its animation. These problems were slightly mitigated by the use of Bourne's aptly-named Bourne Instinct ability which allows you to see the environment in a grainy black and white while objects of importance (like bad guys or nearby weapons) become highlighted in an ethereal glow. Using Bourne Instinct during a firefight will instantly initiate a soft lock on enemies, but it's easily broken and sometimes didn't work properly to begin with. Still, there's a bit of time left before this game sees shelves, so it's likely that the final retail game could be tuned to make gunplay a little less arduous and inaccurate.

Lackluster shooting dynamics aside, however, The Bourne Conspiracy appears to be coming along nicely as evidenced by its incredibly nuanced yet surprisingly simple fighting mechanics. If our limited time with the preview version is any indication, The Bourne Conspiracy requires only a few tweaks before it's fully ready for prime time.